Content and Bridal

Posted on Sunday, 7 February 2021 - 4:18pm by Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: USS Standing Bear | Various
Timeline: 2394 -- MD 07 Evening

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Adrianna stepped into engineering and headed straight to Eyelaya's office. She looked to her friend and smiled, folding her hands across her chest, keeping her ring on show. Adrianna wanted to tell Eyelaya herself. "Afternoon, Eyelaya," Adrianna grinned.

Eyelaya looked up from the reports she was reading. "Hi." She said and smiled. "Welcome to Engineering! What brings you my way?"

"Two things," she replied, "the first is about Eberhardt. I was wondering if you could give him valentines evening off. It's valentines and my birthday."

"Ohhh! Happy Birthday! Absolutely." She checked the shift. "I can take the shift. I have a few projects I want to get done."

Adrianna smiled and nodded, taking a seat, "thank you. I'm an old romantic, but want to get in there first before he does. I'm not competitive, but I like to out do in the romance department. I feel it's predestined with the holiday."

"That sounds nice. What did you plan for the day?"

"Not sure," she replied, "I was thinking about dinner, maybe a movie. But alternatively, I've booked the holo for us to attend the lantern festival of Earth. I was tempted to go to see the northern lights, but I've not seen snow before and I hear it's cold and I have zero tolerance for the cold. It's bad enough I have to wear a thermal undershirt around the ship."

"The lights festival sounds good." She said. She walked over to the replicator. "Anything from the replicator?"

"I know you're set to finish shift in five minutes, so perhaps champagne?" Adrianna half asked.

"That sounds good." She sighed and ordered it. She brought it back to the desk "I am exhausted."

"Too exhausted to celebrate with me?" Adrianna asked.

"No of course not. It's your birthday!"

"It's not my birthday for two week," she replied, "I want to celebrate something else with you. And then ask you a question to do with it."

She laughed. "Alright. Let me finish this report and we're off."

Adrianna smiled and sat in the chair comfortably, "great. You need time off."

She sighed. "That you have right." Within five minutes she was done and did a shift change with her nightly replacement. "Alright. Where to now?"

"Lounge," she replied, "or mine. Either way, we celebrate."

"You lead the way."

The Italian did just that. As they waked they had a little bit of small talk. Adrianna was more focussed on hearing about Eyelaya.

When they finally arrived out the lounge, Adrianna got champagne for the pair. She sat down with her friend and grinned. "Now we can celebrate with style," she chirped.

"What are we celebrating?"

"My engagement," Adrianna smiled, flashing her ring.

Eyelaya's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! That's amazing!" She hugged her friend. "Congratulations!"

Adrianna had started to get used to the hugs, but still stiffened a little. She was quicker to relax this time. "I don't have many close friends. Certainly not female friends. In Earth fashion, I would like you to be a bridesmaid."

"Oh!!!!! I'd love to!!!!" She hugged the woman again.

Adrianna smiled, "I'm glad. I really am." Adrianna finally hugged someone, other than Leopold, back properly with a contented hum. "So... Champagne?" she handed Eyelaya a glass.

"Sounds good to me!" She grinned. "Tell me everything."

"He's been secretly working with hydro-pond-phon-," she toyed with a few more phonetics before concluding, "he'd been working with plants lately. Found a singing one from an out of bounds planet. He asked me to meet him there. He got down on one knee and the rest is history." She sat down, grinning, clearly all love up, "you know, friend to friend, aside from not sleeping well at the moment, I have never been this contented in my life."

"That's good. We must all find our happiness."

Adrianna looked to Eyelaya. She wasn't contributing to conversation well, and this seemed out of character. When they pair had first met, Adrianna struggled to shut her up. "Are you alright?" The Italian asked. Celebration or not, welfare came first.

"I am. I'm just really happy to see that hard shell that you have around you slowly coming down."

Adrianna smiled, almost ignoring the response Eyelaya had given, "I know you've been working a bit too hard lately. You need you time too." Adrianna then decided to follow the conversation, "I'm trying."

"Well you are doing well." She smiled. "Now...you cannot have a celebration without Chocolate. How about some cake?"

"I'm used to celebrating with alcohol, but I'm up for new traditions," Adrianna agreed, "cake. A hell lot of it."

Eyelaya laughed. "Well alright." She went to the replicator and returned with two cakes. "We have to start somewhere." She grinned.

Adrianna chuckled, eyeing up the cake as if it were Leopold. "Gawd, that looks good. Oh, I was going to ask. I need some help sending a message to Leopold's home planet. We're slightly out of range."

"If it's out of range we can do it but Cappy needs to approve it."

Adrianna nodded, "he'll be fine with it. If I get his written, consent, can you do it? Has to have no link back to Starfleet."

"I need a few hours but I can rig something up :) Luckily we have... someone who can help me aboard."

Adrianna smiled, "Let me know what you need and I'll make it happen. I also owe you. Not sure how Leopold will take the news that there's a window of opportunity to send a message or two back to his family in the ekosian home world. It must have been at least two years. I hope he takes the opportunity, like I did with Italy, but I wouldn't blame him either way."

"Not to worry. I'll get everything set up and I will let you know when we're go for the message." She grinned. "SO tell me about your wedding. What's it going to be like?"

Adrianna smiled, "I appreciate it." She then answered the question, honestly, "I have thought about the perfect day, and the over the top day, but to be perfectly honest, I don't know. Italian mothers plan weddings. I will have to plan this and I just--" she shrugged, "I genuinely don't know."

"Well I can help. And Grol too. Grol has planned many weddings in his job." She grinned. "He's scary good at planning events."

Adrianna smiled but was silent a moment, "I'm excited and I want to get married, but I'm not in the right headspace yet. I think we'll enjoy our engagement until then."

"Well alright then. Long engagements are fun. They let you get to know one another." She was happy for her friend and she was glad that Adrianna was coming out of her shell.

Adrianna asked, "honest answer, be blunt: do you feel that people can change permanently, personally?"

She smiled, "Of course they can. We are all capable of a lot of change and growth."

Adrianna nodded, "glad to hear it."

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